WILLIAM TODD, the car dealer accused of murder, yesterday denied he was the gunman who shot two friends in Pangbourne.

The 37-year-old revealed in Reading Crown Court a life on the wrong side of the law but he told the jury he was not the killer of Alex El-Hachadi.

Todd admitted starting a fight with Arthur De Sousa shortly before the double shooting at Pangbourne Mews but said he did not see who shot the 34-year-old and then killed Mr El-Hachadi.

He had rallied friends, including a man he named as a criminal and trafficker of illegal immigrants, to the home of his former partner Nicola Dixon and their two children to confront Mr De Sousa, fearing his family were being pressured in order to get him to pay £30,000.

Mr De Sousa, Mr El-Hachadi - also known as Alex Griffin - and a teenager called Becky Boots had gone to the house on Saturday, February 17, and Todd said Mr De Sousa wanted to borrow £30,000 after a drug deal went gone wrong.

"I could tell by [De Sousa's] voice he was charlied up," he said in a reference to cocaine.

Todd rang three friends - Paul Chance, Richard Engelman and a man called Bobby Sharma, whom he said dealt with illegal immigrants - to go to his former home in Pangbourne.

"I said [to Bobby Sharma]: ‘I think I have got problems'," he said. "‘They are trying to rob me and they are using my family as a negotiating tool.'

"I believed that."

Todd is the first witness to say Mr Sharma was at Pangbourne Mews.

He parked his BMW convertible in neighbouring Horseshoe Road and walked down an alleyway so he could see what was happening, he said.

Mr De Sousa was outside talking "to a big bodybuilder fella" Todd did not know, while Mr Sharma was already there with two others, including a friend called "Cap" in a Range Rover.

Todd said he went to Mr De Sousa, said: "What the **** are you playing at?" and punched him.

The pair fought and Todd fell backwards as Mr De Sousa dropped something "big and bulky".

It was then he heard the first bang and saw the flash coming from where Mr Sharma had been standing.

Asked by his counsel, Nicholas Price, QC, if he could say for certain who shot Mr De Sousa he said: "No, I can't."

Asked if he shot Mr De Sousa or Mr El-Hachadi, he again replied: "No."